The rain had used up the water reserves in the clouds, and was reduced to a sporadic sprinkle when we started on the moss walk. That was out in the clear; under the trees, masses of moss overhead substituted for clouds, holding the water for a while, then dropping large blobs on our heads - splat!
A handful of wet moss can feel almost dry, until you squeeze it; then water gushes out.
I was glad I was carrying only the pocket camera; it's easier to keep dry, and cheaper, in case it's ruined. Within five minutes inside the forest, I had to start drying the lens between shots; many were blurry. And before we finished the circuit, the camera just plain refused to take any more photos. An hour in the warmth beside a wood stove, with its innards exposed to the air, fixed it; it works again. Whew!
This sampler of moss photos are no-name-brand; I haven't been able to identify them with any confidence.
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| The woods were hairy, dark, and deep. (Sorry, Robert Frost!) |
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| And lumpy. |
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| A different variety of lumps. With leaf lichen and infant Cladonia in the open spaces. |
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| Wet country. Even the sign is wet. |
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| Dead but still standing; a tall stump carries the black shelf fungi that killed it. One of the naturalists on the walk is properly dressed for the weather; Tilley hat and rubber rain gear. |
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| Another stump, well rotted, full of woodpecker holes, with a crown of dangling moss. |
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| At least three different mosses here, with last year's maple leaves, and fresh new buds on a twig. |
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| Almost looks like electrified cats' tail again. With leaf lichens. |
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| Leafy moss with sporophytes. The ripe ones are red; green sporophytes are immature. Raindrops run down some of the stalks. (Aka setae.) |
